Cross-over switch



(No Model.)

N. CORT.

GROSS-OVER SWITCH.

No. 357,952. Patented Feb. 15-, 1887.

UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NEVIN CORT, OF NEXV FLORENCE, PENNSYLVANIA.

CROSS-OVER SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 357,952, dated February 15, 1887.

Application filed July 13, 1886. Serial No.207,883.

- To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NEVIN CORT, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Florence, in the county of \Vestmoreland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gross-Over Switches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in cross-over switches for which Letters Patent No. 332,641, dated December 15, 1885, were granted to me. They consist in alterations and additions hereinafter described.

The accompanying drawings represent my invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view embodying my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are detail views.

A A represent two railroad-tracks, parallel with each other, having the usual distance of seven feet between them.

B is a switch extending diagonally from one track to the other. Both ends of the switch are alike. The receiving-points a at the ends of the switch, first encountered by the wheels of an engine or a car, are about three feet in advance of the opposite side and gradually rising from a to b to carry the train onto the level part of the switch. The surface of the switch between I) and b is level, at a height to prevent a contact of the flanges on the wheels with the underlying main tracks.

The two sides of the switch, each composed of five pieces, 1 2 3 4 5, are alike,and the pieces 1 and 5, opposite to each other, are held together by rods (1, by which they are simultaneously to be drawn over or away from the rails. The pieces 1 are near the outside of the inner rails of the main tracks and the pieces 5 near the inside of the outer rails, both having one end pivoted 011 blocks secured to the ties in a manner that their outer free ends can be pushed over the rails near to them or drawn off from them. The inner pivoted ends of the piecesl are jointed to the ends of pieces 2, that extend diagonally over the space between the two tracks and are rigidly supported in position by the blocks upon which they rest. The farther ends of the pieces 2, resting on (NO model.)

the main tracks to close the switch. The joints holding together the parts composing the switch are half lap-joints.

Between the two tracks of the main line, equidistant from both, is a tumblingshaft, C, of a length equal to that of the switch and secured upon the ties in a manner to be turnable on its axis. Near the ends on the shaft 0 are levers 1;,by which to turn it, and also eccentrics a, connected by rods m with pieces 1 of the switch, and so placed that when the lever is depressed to one side the pieces 1 and 5 are pushed on top of the rails of the main tracks, and when moved in an opposite direction the same pieces are drawn off, so as to leave the track open for the passage of cars and engines.

At the middle of the tumbling-shaft O, opposite the pieces 3, are two disks, 1 each provided with two rods, 0 and 1), attached to them at opposite sides, one, 0, of each being pivoted to pieces 3, to open or close the switch when the shaft 0 is turned, and the other rods, 1), moving in a contrary direction of the former, are attached to anchors t, near the inside rails of the main tracks.

The turning of the shaft 0 to close theswitch to the main lines raises the anchors i, that raise the forward ends of safety-rails s, the rear ends of which are hinged upon tics near the inside rails at a: of the main track, so that in case of neglect to reopen the tracks after placing the switch over them for crossing from one to the other, the weight of a following train, on passing over the safety-rail, depresses it, thereby causing the switch to be drawn aside or away from the rails and the main tracks to be opened for a passage, thus avoiding the danger of coming in contact with the switch.

'The safety-rails s are secured against side motion and lie lower than the rails on the main tracks when the tracks are open to mainlines; but when the switch is closed to the main lines their free ends are raised higher than the rails by the anchors under them. The pressure of a passing train over the elevated ends of the safety-rai1s depresses them, thereby removing the pieces 1 5 3 from the main tracks and opening the way for an unobstructed passage over the main line by reversing the former motion of the disks 1'.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The safety-rails 5, combined with the rods I0 1) and disks 1* on the shaft 0, and anchors 2, by

ble safety-rails s, which are placed parallel with the rails and adapted to be raised and lowered, the anchors upon which they rest, and the switches 3, the parts being arranged to operate substantially as shown.

4. In a cross-over switch, the combination of the rails A B, placed at an angle to each other, the shaft 0, extending along between the main tracks and provided with the eccentries at and disks 1', the rods m 0 p, and the movable parts 1 2 3 at 5 of the switch,with the safety-rails s and anchors '15, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NEVIN CORT.

Vitnesses:

LOUIS Monsnn, Io. STAUFFER. 

